I had to give LOWERCASE 3 tries before I finally tried the food. The first time, we assumed the cafe would be open for coffee on a Sunday and we headed down and it was closed. The second time, on a Friday night, we headed down at 830pm since their Facebook said they were open till 1030pm but was told it was closed already!! I wrote to them to feedback on the opening hours, and one of their partners, Mr J, was nice enough to explain the situation and we decided to try LOWERCASE again with a group of friends on a Saturday evening.

LOWERCASE is nestled in Lasalle College of the Arts and has a huge 5000 square feet space compared to the regular hipster cafes.  Their mission statement – “Lowercase is a melting pot where food, art and community come together” – is a good summary of what they are starting to look like, where random art pieces are displayed among tables of people eating. LOWERCASE seeks to promote talent by setting the stage for budding artists to raise their profile. With 5,000 sq feet of space, Lowercase definitely has a space advantage to fulfill this vision. True to their mission, when we were there, there was “Christmas Cabaret” musical ongoing, performed by the Lasalle students, in the lower tier of the cafe with the audience mingling over food and drinks. Truly, Food, Art, Community.

I attribute it to the high ceilings, wide space and lack of crowd on a Saturday evening that we felt very relaxed in LOWERCASE. Mr J, one of the partners, was also extremely hospitable and welcoming. He spent a lot of time talking to various customers. Mr J shared with us that they run their food team on a 5 day work week (very rare in F&B in Singapore), and hence, they have to close on a Sunday so everyone gets their rest. I find this admirable, and how they care of their team is translated to how their team cares of the cafe and the customers. The service crew were extremely friendly and warm, unlike the usual sulky overworked crew in Singapore.

I really admire how LOWERCASE really tries to do things differently. They are environmentally friendly and purchases specially designed food packaging that are brilliant, biodegradable and save on plastic because you don’t need secondary packaging! Helps that the packaging is extremely aesthetic as well. They also give their kitchen crew an opportunity to experiment cooking different dishes that are of their interest. Because one of the chefs was from a tzechar store, so they have a weekday special of Pork Mac and Cheese for students. Sounds amazing!

On to the food, we first shared 2 pastas – Beef & Peppercorns ($11.50), and Garlic Shrimp ($10.90). I really enjoyed the slightly spicy Beef and Peppercorns sauce. It was served with succulent beef chunks and rocket in a black pepper glace. It reminds me of one of my favourite pastas from Greyhound, Bangkok. I personally found the Shrimp Aglio Olio a little bland, but N enjoyed the dish for its al dente cooked pasta (well cooked and chewy!) and the well balanced oil, chilli, rocket and peppers taste. N liked the fact that they used red chilli which gave it a more Asian flavour. The shrimp flavour was also slightly absorbed into the pasta. For pastas not made from scratch, we enjoyed the reasonably priced pastas very much.

When the bigger group came, we shared a couple of things: Beef Yakiniku ($8) which is seared beef cubes served with Wasabi and Shoyu, Fish Fingers ($7 – Panko-crumbed Fish Fillets with Tartare)  Chicken Roulade, Beef & Peppercorns Cured Lemon with Salmon Pizza  and Beef and Rosemary Pizza (1/2 and 1/2 for $14), The Eden ($12) which comprised sofrito puree, zucchini, black olives with a tinge of fleshy artichokes which is essentially healthy vegetables mash pizza and Banana Chocolate Cake ($6).

Beef Yakiniku ($8) – Both servings were cooked slightly different it. The beef is not the most tender, but it has a very rustic BBQ flavour and having it with wasabi gives it a nice fusion flavour.

Fish Fingers ($7) – Pretty regular sidedish

Cured Lemon with Salmon Pizza – The Cured Lemon sounded atas, but was very elegant to eat. The lemon complemented and covered the usual fishiness of the salmon. Beef and Rosemary Pizza – Tender meat on thin pizza. And finally, The Eden – Sofrito puree, zucchini, black olives with a tinge of fleshy artichokes. I find the salmon and eden more unique pizzas.

Other than the beef and peppercorn pasta, Chicken Roulade was my favorite dish! And expect the polenta (not mash) to give a very different texture!

Overall, great food at great value since LOWERCASE is targeted at students, with spacious high ceilings to chill out. We will definitely be back! They are closed on Sundays but you can even rent the space for cookouts!

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Lowercase
Address: 1 McNally St, Blk D #01-01, Singapore 187940
Opening Hours: Mon – Thu: 9:30 am – 9:30 pm, Fri: 9:30 am – 10:30 pm, Sat: 10:30 am – 10:30 pm
Tel: 6337 5581
Website: http://www.lowercase.sg/